Sometimes it’s hard not to cry but it is more healing if you can laugh. To find some humor in a situation is not to dismiss it’s importance but it helps to gain some perspective.
Can’t you just imagine Jesus standing there in the temple with a group of followers watching a very serious priest carefully polishing the cup used in one of the religious services and then proceeding, with intense concentration, to strain the wine being poured into the cup. Perhaps the priest has even turned the event into a religious ritual and demanded silence during this “liturgical” event.
Can’t you just see Jesus poking someone in the ribs and saying, “Heh, Mr. Priest, you do that straining bit very well. I doubt that a gnat could ever make it through your procedure. But if you are not careful you are going to end up swallowing that camel that has just slipped into your cup.
I once had the opportunity to dance on the grapes at a harvest festival in a small village in mountains of Peru. I know from that experience how all sorts of bugs, twigs, etc can get into the wine. So I know that what the priest was doing is important. On the other hand, I also know that we can take ourselves too seriously. Jesus jocular comment was surely meant to puncture the pretenciousness of this activity in the temple.
Don’t make it a serious exercise but try to name some of the “gnats” and some of the “camels” that are part of your ministry. What are the things that people get overly serious about that in the larger scheme of things are not that important. What are some of the important things that sometimes can get overlooked. At least privately, it might be helpful to keep a gnat and a camel list.
